Running head: HONESTY RESEARCH 1

Activity 2: Honesty in Research

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The Sage Colleges

HONESTY RESEARCH 2

Honesty in Research

Good research is only as good as the underlying data, and data is only as good as the

honesty of their collector and reporter. This common theme expounded upon in every intro

science book can never be repeated one time too many. The value of science in our lives,

whether medical, technological, or other scientifically influenced professions, or even the weight

our society attaches to science for social and cultural affirmation, is reason enough that we take

honesty in science very seriously.

A most basic example in recent culture wars was the controversial practice of sexual

orientation conversion therapy. What can be more basic to affording dignity to a human being

than withholding judgment on their sexuality? This must be the most demeaning and cruel

manner for human beings to treat each other. What can be more antithetical to science than the

basic assumption on which you predicate a treatment being an illness that has no clear definition

and no implication of objective dysfunction outside of the realm of religion? This must be the

most dishonest and disingenuous method to further a religious or social agenda on the back of

research masquerading as science. And yet, up till very recently, one could still find pro-

conversion therapy researchers publishing and discussing conversion therapy on the basis of

gayness being an illness (Gans, 1998).

The nave reader can be excused for thinking that the science was not always settled on

the matter, or that at some point there were sincere deliberations regarding the validity of same-

sex sexual orientation. However, even quite late in the period before the APA issued official

guidelines limiting therapeutic practice for people with same-sex orientation to affirmative

therapies (Cramer, Golom, LoPresto, & Kirkley, 2008), the science of gay conversion therapy

was still practically full of holes. First, there was no explanation for why gayness should be
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considered an illness. Second, very few researchers ever addressed how to define sexual

orientation in the first place, so how could they measure the effects of the illness or the

treatment thereof? Third, the data that was gathered tended to throw in heterosexual persons (or

perhaps bisexual?) which may well account for the positive outcome recorded for a small

minority of subjects (Haldeman, 1994). With this in mind, its quite clear that this was never a

science, yet still successfully occupied such a large place in the world of psychology and

behavioral science, confirming how our biases blind us from seeing through inherent dishonesty

and preposterous assumptions.

The gnawing question this discussion provokes is how do we know today that we are

doing with training people to be more functional members of society is in their best interest?

As I was stimulating my 10 year old son to share more information about his first week in

school, I was challenged by his older brother why I am doing that; is it not obvious that he

doesnt want to talk about it? I was under the impression that he needs to learn how to share

information with his loved ones, while his brother was more in tune with his feelings, and

thought my process to be coercive. Similarly, Bailey and Burch (2016, p.22) mention a case of

young man with developmental disabilities whom the group home management decided to

forcefully integrate him into social group activities, but the result was aggressive behavior. After

careful investigation, the behavior analyst was able to determine that the person simply wanted

to be in his room and listen to music upon implementation of this suggestion, the aggression

subsided. We need to be mindful of the limits we impose on the agency of our vulnerable clients

and do better research on how to identify their needs, so that the help we apply will be greater

than the harm.

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References

Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2016). Ethics for behavior analysts. Routledge.

Cramer, R. J., Golom, F. D., LoPresto, C. T., & Kirkley, S. M. (2008). Weighing the evidence:

Empirical assessment and ethical implications of conversion therapy. Ethics &

Behavior, 18(1), 93-114.

Gans, L. A. (1998). Inverts, Perverts, and Converts: Sexual Orientation Conversion Therapy and

Liability. BU Pub. Int. LJ, 8, 219.

Haldeman, D. C. (1994). The practice and ethics of sexual orientation conversion

therapy. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 62(2), 221.